Lijiang in the Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County of Yunnan Province has a history going back to the end of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). It is a part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. This key town covers an area of 3.8 square km and most of the residents are Naxi people.
The old town was developed from an open market fair rural area. In the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty (i.e. 1382), the Army-civilian Office of Lijiang was instituted and the old town became a centre of politics, economy and culture.Although the population of Naxi people accounts for only a small part of the total of all ethnic groups of China, its Dongba culture is well-known domestically and abroad. Dongba religion is a primitive polytheistic religion of the Naxi people and the doctrine is animistic. It is a religion which developed under the influence of both the indigenous wizard culture of the Naxi people and the Tibetan culture from outside. Its priests are called Dongba which means “wise man”. These knowledgeable “wise men” are good at singing and dancing and are the main propagators and heirs of Dongba religion. The Dongba culture features pictographs, Dongba scriptures, Dongba paintings, Dongba music and dance. Of these, Dongba character pictographs are very popular along the Lijiang River and are still used today. It is the only living pictographic language in the world and it records the splendid culture spanning thousands of years of the Naxi people.
The construction of Lijiang is less affected by the city construction rules of Central Plains. The whole city is constructed against the backdrop of mountains and water. The houses and streets are in harmony with the surrounding geological environment. The picturesque disorderly houses make the whole city lively and fully show the unique characteristics of this mountain and water town. The design with no city walls shows that the generous Naxi people are broad-minded enough to accept talents from all lands and to learn from others. In 1997, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
